I also represent the national committee on aging.

I have with me Dr. Herman Wilson, who is at the present time the administrator of Asbury Methodist Home for the Aged in Gathersburg, Md., who also has been president of the Methodist Association of Hospitals and Homes, and is at present a member of the executive committee of that body.

We thave come here today to speak in the interest of housing and programs for the care of our older citizens.

I wish to present two statements, the first a formal one by the national committee on aging, of which, as I have indicated, I am a member.

Then, secondly, I present from my own manuscript, with regret that I have not been able to prepare copies for you, but I think I can be understood as I present it, a statement concerning the work of our own denomination, and the interest which we have in this field of care for the aged, especially as related to the development of adequate housing facilities.

The formal statement from the national committee is this:

Something to do, and a place to live-these are the two great needs that time puts upon all those who live into old age. At present, any older person who finds in his community the means of satisfying either of these needs is lucky. It is a safe guess that during the last half of this century, there will be no community in which the needs of the elderly are not reckoned with in a fair share of the building which is done.

The number of people 65 and over in this country is increasing every day. By 1960 there will be nearly 16 million people in this age group. How many of these will want or need new housing, no one can say. However, 1950 housing census data revealed that nearly 30 percent of the dwellings owned by this age group were substandard and 43 percent of those rented were substandard. On the other hand, 30 percent of the dwellings owned by those 65 or over had a value of $10,000 or more.

These houses of higher value, however, are not necessarily suited to the needs of older people. Twenty percent have 7 rooms or more, and are often relics of a former day when families were larger, land and building costs lower, and large houses in vogue.

Since the need for a smaller space is characteristic of very young as well as older families, there is a much larger potential market for the small house than is currently realized. Also, since many of the of the architectural features essential to the health and safety of older people are also convenient for younger people, the same type of housing may be suitable for both young and elderly families.

Contrary to popular opinion, the aged are not concentrated in a few States with equable climates. The high percentage of older people and their housing needs affects every State and community, though the specific needs may vary with the local population.

The most significant fact is the large number of single people the majority of whom are women. Only about 44 percent of those 65 and over in 1950 were married and living with a spouse. The rest of the aged-nearly 3 out of 5-have no husband and wife households. More than half the women in this age group are widowed, and about one-fourth of the men. This tendency points to an increasing number

of unattached elderly women who will need living accommodations suited to their circumstances.

There is a tendency to equate age with low income. In 1950, nearly two-thirds of all aged men had annual incomes under $2,000. The income status of older people in the future will be greatly changed for the better with increases in social-security benefits and the growth of industrial pensions. While there is a great problem of providing good housing for older people at a price they can afford, there is a market for housing in a wide range of income groups.

The national health survey showed that

On any given day, 1 in every 7 men and women aged 65 and over is disabled, and 4 out of 7 of these (8 percent of all aged persons) are disabled because of major chronic diseases or impairments.

Suitable housing for older people is scarce (and even serious consideration of the need is very recent. In the past few years, there has been a great deal of talk and some experimentation. Every community that has surveyed the needs of its older people has placed high priority on housing. Actual experience, however, is spotty and widely scattered.

Many older people desire a small house situated like any other house in a normal community. Few of these have so far been built, in part at least, because of the difficulty of favorable financing for a 1-bedroom house.

There are also retirement villages. In their simplest forms these are real-estate developments containing small individual houses designed for sale, with a small downpayment and monthly payments within retirement income.

There have been some small experiments with small single housing units within the larger community, such as Cobbs Hill Village in Rochester, N. Y., and the housing project of Senior Center, Santa Barbara, Calif.

The first apartment house for older people in this country was Tompkins Square House erected in 1929, through the gift of a donor, and is operated by the Community Service Society of New York on a nonprofit basis.

There seems to be developing a new "twilight zone" in housing for older people which takes into account both the desire for independence and the potential need, particularly in the late seventies and eighties, of increasing amounts of protective and health care. These new plans call for a sort of campus plan, with facilities for a wide range of living arrangements-from cottages or other independent housekeeping units to an infirmary. The plan allows residents to transfer from one type of facility to another as their changing situation may suggest. Many of these developments are now being undertaken by national, religious, and fraternal groups who formerly limited their facilities to institutional care.

There is continuous expanding need for homes for the aged. Although every effort should be made to help older people maintain independent lives, there comes a time when a certain proportion need the protection which "sheltered care" in a home for the aged provides. The average age at which applicants seek admission has changed from around 65 in 1940 to around 78 in 1955. The average age of residents in 1940 was 70-75. Now it is 80-85. The infirmary care which

can be provided as part of the home program keeps many out of general hospitals.

This brief survey of need and report of experience and experimentation in the field of housing the aged indicates the wide range of buildings needed, and the broad comprehensive kind of legislative program to help the country to progress in meeting the need.

And I have in my hand, Mr. Chairman, a brochure which announces an architectural competition just released in the last issue of Modern Hospital, which is being sponsored by the national committee on aging of the National Association Welfare Assembly.

This is an indication of the tremendous demand for housing and sheltered care generally in this field.

Mr. RAINS. How large an article is that on engineering for the aged?

Mr. MEISTER. Well, this is a rather large document, Mr. Rains.

Mr. RAINS. I was hoping if it had any suggestion as to housing for the aged that we might include the document in the record if it wasn't too extensive.

Mr. MEISTER. I will be very glad to leave this with you and include it in the record.

Now, if I may conclude with a brief statement concerning our own experience and the work with which we in the Methodist Church have been trying to do, and what I say here concerning what we are trying to do can likewise be said of other organizations similar to our own in this Nation of ours.

I am sure you will allow me to quote from the Episcopal Address given to the recent General Conference of the Methodist Chuch which was in session in Minneapolis, Minn., Wednesday, April 25, 1956, to May 7. The Episcopal Address is a statement signed by all of the bishops of the Methodist Church. That address devoted a considerable section to the question of human welfare, and made this significant statement in the first paragraph:

The public interest in human welfare owes its origin to the church's concern. Before a social conscience developed regarding the handicapped in life there was a Christian conscience seeking to carry the healing ministries of Christ to these neglected groups of society. Even today when such a large part of human welfare is directed by secular agencies, the motivation for the public support of these agencies comes from church sources. The increasing public concern for health and social services is a tribute to the Christian Church which first sponsored them and a testimony to the continued need of the church's interest in their provision and direction.

This puts our Methodist Church at the very heart of matters pertaining to human welfare, and today especially as they are related to the care of our aged folk.

It is our purpose to do everything possible to add years to life but more especially add life to years through sympathetic service, understanding, and individual attention. No phase of activity is overlooked, and the spiritual, mental, and physical hungers are met with love and assurance.

I am here today to express support for any measure that will make possible the development of more and better housing for the older citizens of our Nation, such as House bill 10157.

Referring further to the address made by the bishops of the Meth odist Church, they state:

The question of current maintenance as well as policy of expansion in the establishment of new institutions calls for a pronouncement and a plan for this general conference.

The committee on hospitals and homes of that body recommended for thorough and thoughful consideration a 12-point program under the subject of Christianity in Action. In that 12-point program these items were lifted up.

1. Cooperate as possible with national, church, and public health and welfare departments.

2. Develop homes for older persons to meet increasing needs.

I have quoted these matters only to state to you the position of the church in its desire to increase the facilities for the care of older persons.

The Board of Hospitals and Homes of the Methodist Church now has 77 homes and agencies caring for our older citizens related to it and for which it has responsibility in establishing standards of operation. It is our hope that measures may be adopted whereby these homes can be increased and other facilities established.

Our board has recommended to the church in keeping with the considerations of the general conference that

every annual conference of Methodism should develop at least one home for the aged in the next 5 years.

This can be done in addition to existing institutions if funds are made available as suggested in H. R. 10157. Ths would make it possible for us to add 102 additional facilities, thereby meeting at least a part of the need now existing.

Once the capital investments are provided for these agencies, they can be operated largely on a self-supporting basis out of income which individuals may now have. We have attended a place in our social and economic life where every citizen in our States is eligible for some sort of income from the many sources now available.

We urge the adoption of adequate measures properly protected to make these goals attainable, not only in our organization but in other like organizations throughout the country.

Now, if you have any questions, gentlemen, we are here to answer them, if we can.

This concludes my formal statement.

Mr. BROWN (presiding). Are there any questions?

Mr. RAINS. Because of the lack of time, Mr. Chairman, I have no questions, but I want to tell you that I deeply appreciate the fine support you give to the housing for the elderly, and say that I don't know of any better ally in getting it passed than the great Methodist Church, and I appreciate your appearing before us.

Mr. MEISTER. Thank you very much, Mr. Rains.

Mr. O'HARA. Mr. Chairman, may I add my thanks to Dr. Meister, who is one of our outstanding civic leaders in Chicago, and tell him how much I appreciate his being here and make this great contribution to our study of the housing need of our elder citizens. I am sure the committee deeply appreciates the valuable service in this field of the great Methodist Church.

Mr. BROWN. Are there any other questions?

If not, we are very glad to have your views, and certainly they will be given careful consideration.

Mr. MEISTER. Thank you.

If we can be of further service, please do not hesitate to call upon us. Mr. BROWN. The clerk will call the witness.

The CLERK. The next witness is Mr. Ira M. Patton, appearing in behalf of the American Hotel Association.

Mr. BROWN. Mr. Patton, I will ask Mr. Rains of your State to introduce you to the committee.

Mr. RAINS. Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, it is a real pleasure to have before this committee my good friend, Mr. Patton, manager of the Tutwiler Hotel in Birmingham, Ala.

I want to tell him how glad we are to have him here. He has, also, a hotel in Atlanta, Ga., the Dinkler-Plaza.

It is a pleasure, Mr. Patton.

Mr. PATTON. Thank you, sir.

I have a prepared statement, and I will proceed to read it.

STATEMENT OF IRA M. PATTON, MANAGER, DINKLER-TUTWILER HOTEL, BIRMINGHAM, ALA.

Mr. PATTON. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I am Ira M. Patton, manager, Dinkler-Tutwiler Hotel in Birmingham. I appear before you today as the only witness who will represent the hotel industry in connection with your current hearings.

Ι

As many of you know, we have been fearful, in recent years, that the diversion of permanent housing to transient occupancy might easily impair the solvency of the Nation's hotels. I want to emphasize to you that our concern is not something that is selfish and unrealistic. Actually, in my own city of Birmingham, there have been several large FHA-financed apartment buildings which have been renting transiently for a number of years. Many days, these properties would just skim off enough transient business to throw the Birmingham hotels into the red. Because of the favorable interest rates, and amortization procedures under FHA, the overhead of these properties is far less than in a privately financed hotel. As a result, they can undersell us substantially.

Your committee has been very patient with spokesmen for our industry during the past 5 or 6 years. And, in 1954, you wrote into the Housing Act a clear-cut prohibition against transient rentals in any multiple-housing projects built thereafter. You took the view that any diversion of FHA housing to transient use was detrimental to the permanent housing objectives for which the program was designed. We feel that this is definitely true.

But we continue deeply apprehensive that this 1954 prohibition, carried in section 513 of the act, may be bypassed or sidetracked in the zeal to expand upon the housing program throughout the country. May I cite four situations which give us considerable concern:

1. Military housing: Once again, spokesmen for the Department of Defense, and for the building industry generally, are advocating a stepped-up program involving military housing. We believe that it is fitting and proper that adequate housing, of a high order, be provided for those commissioned and noncommissioned officers who are serving in the Nation's Armed Forces. But military activities. being what they are, there is a mobility necessary, in connection with any training program, that makes it extremely difficult to establish